Robin Hood's Merry men take viewers away from ITV

According to Digital Spy, the BBC's new production of Robin Hood scooped an average 8.2 million viewers when it debuted at 7pm on Saturday night, with viewers peaking at 8.5 million during its 45-minute time-slot.

The 13-episode series, which stars Irish actor Jonas Armstrong as the "hooded man", beat ITV1's Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway by over a million viewers, with the Geordie pair managing just 7 million.

The new series of Strictly Come Dancing at 9pm achieved 8.8 million, with ITV1's The X Factor, shown in a slightly earlier 8.30pm slot, managing 8.4 million, with its second part peaking at 9.2 million at 9pm.

An ITV spokesman said: "We are thrilled that nearly 10 million people tuned in to discover who were the final 12 acts who will go on to sing on the live shows next week."

Source - http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds37947.html.